I Never Knew
by SuperMint
Summary: Some things weren't shared, some things are only found out after the fact. Hiro makes a discovery and a friendship becomes stronger as a result.


So, I finally got a chance to see Big Hero 6. UK release wasn't until January 30th!

Then I had some suspicions and my fangirly writers brain went nuts and etcetera. Thus have a fanfic. Hi readers if you followed my Frozen stuff. Those aren't abandoned but the brain-jack demanded a story. Hello new readers, if you like sibling feels or femslash (no, they are not combined, some things are just a bit ick IMO) then go and read my Frozen stuff, it is marked up according to content. Onto some wrtings!

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It had been a request from Fred; he wanted action figures of the team and "Who better to make them than the guy who'd made the suits?" So, here Hiro sat at his desk working on scale figures of himself and his friends. Complete with play features too. He had the 3D renders ready and was prototyping Baymax's rocket fist as the easiest of the "powers" to replicate in miniature.

"Ah!" The tiny red vinyl fist fired off over his shoulder, there was a startled yowl as it sped past Mochi and a crash made Hiro wince as the toy landed somewhere in Tadashi's room. "Maybe a complete replica of the rocket fist was a bit much." Hiro said to pacify the cat.

The meow that communicated a perfect "y'think" was followed by the calico cat leaving the room in a feline huff. Hiro chuckled, though now he had to go and find the fist and assess the damage. He pushed back from his desk and readied himself to enter his brother's space. It wasn't a shrine per se, but it made him feel more comfortable for the room to be left as it had been that day.

"So what's the damage?" Hiro spoke under his breath to distract his thoughts as he stepped through the partition. It seemed like there wasn't much. The fist had hit the bookshelf; some large volumes had been dislodged and fallen with smaller items around. The bright red culprit wasn't to be seen, "Maan, I have to look for it now." Hiro pouted but quickly gathered up the fallen items and re-shelved them. Thanks to Tadashi's orderly nature he knew where the books belonged. He passed a quick salute to the photo of his lost older brother before dropping to his knees to look under the bed.

It was too dark under the bed to see, but questing fingers brushing in the gloom soon found the smooth piece. He pulled it out but as he did so his hand brushed something. "Did something else go under here?" Hiro muttered and pulled out the slim book he'd accidentally found. It was one of the notebooks Tadashi had always seemed to carry around with him. Hiro used to joke that it was super nerdy and lame that he was making robot design notes on _paper_. He would have shelved it without a second thought, but something was sticking out of the cover at an angle, clipped into the book.

He flipped to the page it was clipped to and blinked at what he saw.

Hiro looked again. His eyes weren't lying to him, it was there and it was real. One of those little strips of photo-booth pictures was clipped on the page. Of course Tadashi would have gotten something that dorky and old fashioned. That part wasn't the surprise.

There were two people in the photos; Tadashi was only one of them. They were close, like _close _close. Like _dating _close.

Hiro wasn't sure if it was the smiling or the fact it was_ her and Tadashi _that surprised him most.

GoGo never smiled like that around anyone.

Realisation is like inspiration. It hits like lightning.

"I'm an idiot." Hiro said to the room. It was a good job Baymax was put away in his pod for now. Or he would be reading all sorts of weird chemicals. Things made more sense now.

_ "Tadashi was our best friend. We're in."_

She had been so quickly willing when he'd said that the accident hadn't been an accident. Then later there had been the hug. How, right away, she accepted his apology and hugged him. GoGo didn't hug people. Honey Lemon had said as much when Hiro had shared his worry that their slightly surly friend didn't like him. "Of course she likes you Hiro. She hugged you! GoGo never hugs people!" He'd been a little reassured and noticed after a while that she did treat him like a good friend. More so than a group of college students would treat a fifteen year old classmate.

He clambered up off the floor and took the strip of photos with him, putting them in his jacket pocket carefully. In his part of the room he dropped the rocket-fist to the desk. Fred would have to wait on the toys a little, this was something important.

Aunt Cass was working in the cafe, the usual Saturday afternoon crowd of regulars and tourists were having coffee and pastries. It had even gotten a little busier after a popular blog had called The Lucky Cat Cafe one of the charming San Fransokyo indie cafes that made the city so vibrant. "Aunt Cass, I have to go to the campus, I forgot a memory card." Hiro said, getting a hug when he reached her. He didn't really want to lie, but it was important to establish the facts before he shared this.

"No problem kiddo. Try not to get caught up in some crazy science experiment and miss dinner." Aunt Cass gave him another squeeze and waved him off as he left.

SFIT wasn't as busy with most of the students free for the weekend. Hiro was hoping he hadn't misheard the plan sharing when they had last been together. GoGo had said she wanted to use the test track for her new bike and wheel design, she'd booked the nearest free spot. The promise of speed had more than made up for a weekend afternoon at college.

He stopped at a vending machine on the way to the track, Aunt Cass wasn't the only one of the Hamada's to stress eat. Hiro picked out the gummy bears and punched in the digits for a bottled water too. He'd have a peace offering at the very least.

From the sound of it, he hadn't misheard; there was the tell-tale whoosh of the mag-wheels reaching greater and greater speeds around the track. There were already some pretty impressive numbers up on the display but knowing GoGo, they weren't even nearly fast enough.

He took a seat on the bleachers and watched as the yellow and purple bike shot around the track. She had a helmet that looked a lot like the suit one but different enough not to risk compromising their identity. It was incredibly aerodynamic and had been a birthday gift that Hiro designed for her with a few notes Wasabi had gotten off the girl.

The buzzer sounded as another lap-time flashed on the screen, nearly a whole second had been shaved off the last effort. Hiro cheered and waved as GoGo came to a halt and got a thumbs up in return. "Hey kid, what are you doing here on a weekend?" She parked the bike and dropped to the bleachers beside him, stretching out worn muscles and falling slack. Tugging the helmet off and putting it on the seat next to her.

"I wanted to see how the helmet was performing?" Hiro smiled, he knew it was very unconvincing. He proffered the bottle of water and GoGo took it with a nod of thanks.

"You know Hiro, you're a terrible liar. I think the only reason you could hustle any of those bot-fight guys was because you're a kid." She took a gulp of the water and chucked him on the shoulder. "So, what really brought you to campus? Not that I'm not grateful for the water."

Hiro nervously popped a few gummie bears into his mouth and felt the edge of the photo strip in his pocket. "Uh a thing, it's a, um, a thing... I needed to ask."

"So spit it out, I'm not going to bite." GoGo had nearly finished the bottle of water, she was leaning forward on her knees with the bottle dangling in her fingers.

"I," Hiro dropped his head, looking to the floor, and thrust the photo strip out to her. "I found this. I'm sorry."

The bottle hit the ground and GoGo stuttered a gasp. The photos were snatched away. "Where... where did you get this?" Hiro looked up, she was just looking at the photos in her hand, the strip was twitching. Her hands were shaking.

"There was a notebook, I think I knocked it off his shelf. I found the photos inside." He ran his fingers through his hair. "I never knew you two were..."

"Close. We were close." GoGo interjected, her voice was thick with emotion.

"I never knew." Hiro said quietly. "I'm sorry." He tentatively reached out a hand, unsure of what he was allowed and not allowed to do. "I was so selfish not to consider how anyone else would feel, that it wasn't just me who lost him." He could feel the sadness rising, thick and hot like cotton wool in his nose and throat. GoGo gently took his hand.

"He was your brother Hiro. I think you were entitled to be selfish. Its kinda why I didn't mention anything." GoGo looked up this time, still holding the photos. "We were- We were _something _for a few months." The barriers that are always there, that even socially awkward Hiro notices, are crumbling. She is blinking, not quite tears yet but Hiro is worried that there will be. If she cries he definitely will.

"I never figured he was with anyone. Tadashi was a huge dork, any girl who came by the cafe was bored to death by him gushing about some new tech or something." Hiro began kicking his legs. GoGo was still holding his hand and it seemed she wasn't shaking anymore. Maybe it had just been a reaction from her just finishing riding.

"Tadashi was enthusiastic, caring and really openly sweet." GoGo said, her head was still low but she was looking at Hiro now. The boy nodded but looked puzzled. "Persistent too."

"But you and him. No offense but it's a bit left field. When I saw the photos the other stuff went into place, but seriously? I thought you'd prefer the tough biker type." Hiro looked at his friend cautiously, hoping to avoid a smack.

GoGo snorted. "Really? Those guys are jerks. And, what's the first rule of magnets genius?"

"Opposites attract?"

"Life lesson Hiro, it works the same for a lot of people too." The barriers crumbled then and she leaned against him. "We were friends in class pretty quickly. Nerd-Lab throws a bunch of crazy science geeks into one place. We just clicked as a group. I think it was mostly because the four of us didn't mind Fred hanging around."

"Fred's cool. It's a little his fault I found this... my mini Baymax rocket-fist knocked Tadashi's stuff over." Hiro carried on kicking his feet. GoGo was still holding the hand he'd offered and was leaning against his arm. This was new ground and she wasn't open with much but sarcasm and absolute loyalty. Keeping her talking would maybe help them both.

"Mini rocket-fist? You know, I don't want to know." GoGo figured it was the kid's way of letting her know he was listening. She smoothed a thumb over the photos, a ghost of a smile aimed at the third one down. She was pecking the tiniest kiss onto Tadashi's cheek. The fourth was of Tadashi looking like a beet as she laughed at him.

"What changed? From friends to _something_?" Hiro asked quietly, he'd heard from the others that GoGo didn't have the best home life, that outside their group there wasn't anyone else. He wasn't stupid, people who behaved like she did often took a while letting people in. Tadashi must have been a big deal.

"I was walking home after a late night working on the bike." GoGo sounded distant to Hiro. She sounded distant to her own ears, these feelings and memories had been pushed deep by her way of coping with the loss. "I think he was off looking for little-mister bot-fighter again. She gave him a playful shove and Hiro steadied himself with a return shoulder-check. "It was raining and I was bummed out. He offered me a ride and I said yes. So I jumped on behind him."

"He asked me when I last ate or drank anything other than coffee and cola and when I couldn't remember we went to this hokey little noodle place and he bought me my favourite off the menu." GoGo smiled at that recollection. "I was and I wasn't surprised that he remembered it from when Fred made food runs. He watched me eat every bite and then took me home. I sat there behind him and felt so, so _safe_." The tightness returned to her chest and throat and tears slipped free.

"You don't have to tell me if it hurts." Hiro said morosely, noticing the plip-plip of tears on the ground. He and Aunt Cass would talk and then talk-around the subject of Tadashi when things got too painful.

"I _want_ to tell you Hiro." GoGo said. She remembered how her classmate, no, her friend, had felt like how home should. Safe and warm and there for her. How she'd buried her face in his jacket and fallen asleep. The memories made her heart ache. "I fell asleep leaning into him. He was warm and I was sleepy and full from noodles. He carried me up to my dorm room and Honey Lemon let him in." GoGo smiled, she missed sharing a dorm with Honey but as second year students they now shared an apartment instead. There was nothing quite as close as a shared room. "Honey said he'd made sure I was all tucked up, with her help. He left with a bow and a smile. She was gushing and I was mortified."

"Yeah, I can imagine." Hiro chipped in. GoGo was always tough and didn't like help, he recalled when they were getting used to the suits and her refusal of a hand to get upright again. Another playful shove came, but her head was nearly on his shoulder and her hand was still holding his.

"He had pastries the next morning, so I could have breakfast. Then he took me out for lunch." GoGo choked a slightly sobbing laugh. "It went on from there really, forcing me to eat proper meals when I accidentally skipped turned into going out for a bite together. Then making sure we had actual days off out in the fresh air." She waved the photo strip. "This was the first time I kissed him. He'd gotten me to go down to the bay with him and have pizza. Then there was this stupid old photo booth he dragged me in, all eager tugs and amazement that such an old thing was still there." GoGo smiled fondly, "I decided to take chance. I liked him and well, that could play off as a joke if he didn't like it."

"I take it he did." Hiro grinned. His brother really had been a dork and while it still hurt he was gone, to hear this was nice. To remember him fondly instead of with so much pain.

"I have the other one we did. He got me back for that little trick and then some." GoGo was blushing but Hiro couldn't see her. He still had such scrawny shoulders, she mused, but it was comforting to be close to someone. Especially her boyfriend's little brother. "So we dated, it was about a month before... before the fire."

"Huh, maybe he was so super psyched because he was dating you then." Hiro said aloud. Tadashi had been really peppy and it had to have been down to more than pride in the invention Hiro was going to present.

"What?" GoGo sat up then and looked at Hiro.

"He was always cheerful right? But he was even more those last few weeks. He said a few cryptic things about people and matches and love... I guess I was too focused on my project and getting into SFIT that I didn't pick up on it." Hiro looked at her and felt guilty for bringing it up. The look on GoGo's face was sad.

"We hadn't even told the guys. It never really came up, we didn't know exactly what to call it. I never knew if it could have worked out. If _it_ could have been anything really, it could have gone two months and we dropped it or..." She blinked tears clear from her eyes and tamped on the empty bottle, there was a satisfying crunch. "It sucks." A weight landed against her shoulder.

"Yeah." Hiro was leaning on GoGo now. "Thanks by the way."

"Thanks?" She sounded puzzled.

"Thanks for saying yes to my crazy idea to be superheroes. Thanks for stopping me... on the island." He paused, shy. "Thanks for the hug." Hiro breathed shakily. "I was disrespecting Baymax, you guys. Tadashi. You didn't let me take a dark path and you accepted my apology. You got me to let people in again."

"Anytime." GoGo loosed her hand replacing it with the other and slipped an arm around him, "You were angry and hurt. I know all about that. But angry isn't any place to be and hurt can heal. Look at us right? Talking about that nerd without getting too choked up. A year ago I would've clammed up and you were shut away."

"It's nice to remember him like this, happy memories instead of just being sad for the loss." Hiro said. Smiling at the strip of photos, now balanced on GoGo's knee. "He's gone, but he is still with us."

GoGo hummed agreement. "You're his legacy too. You know that? You and Baymax, the team you've made us. More a legacy than some hall with his name on. We're helping people. Those trial Baymax units in the nursing homes and hospitals are helping people. Your micro-bots are going to do amazing things in the future." She gave him a hug and released him, looking him in the eye to share how sincere her statement had been.

"Thanks." Hiro said again, a blush on his features. His eyes strayed from hers and focused on the clock. "Aww man. I have to get home for dinner." He made to move. "You can keep those photos if you like."

"I'd like that." She pocketed them and stood as he stood too. She began to collect her things and figure some sort of plan for the evening until Hiro coughed awkwardly. GoGo turned to the teen.

"Uh, do you want to come to dinner? Aunt Cass won't mind and maybe... Maybe we can talk about Tadashi a little? I think she'd like to know he had a girlfriend for a little while and... Y'know, it's good to have company."

Hiro is worried that this is too awkward, or might be construed as something else and his stupid big brain is rushing a mile a minute and Baymax would _so_ diagnose puberty right now... A voice cuts through the mess.

"Sure." GoGo is ready to leave, the bottle she crushed is in the trash can, her helmet is under her arm and the bike is beside her. "I can give you a ride back, but I need to stop at my apartment and freshen up first."

"Great! Good. I mean. Yeah."

He's ramrod straight and gurning and all GoGo can do is laugh and try not to fall over. "Relax wonder boy. Nerd must run in the Hamada bloodline." It is cathartic after such sadness and the teen laughed too.

The friends left the track and the campus together, GoGo pointing out some of the locations of Tadashi's more embarrassing times at SFIT and they both enjoy sharing the memory of someone they loved.

On Tadashi's birthday they visited the grave. Aunt Cass, Hiro and this time GoGo came with them. She'd brought copies of both sets of photos to put down with the incense. Aunt Cass had cooed over them until it had turned into hiccuping little sobs and the three of them had hugged and comforted each other. All GoGo could think about was how nice it was to be part of a family again, even if it was without Tadashi.

They left before the others visited. GoGo was steeling herself for the next day in the Lab when they would be full of questions and Hiro had pledged his support, sanctuary and a listening ear if it got too much.

In the end the shortest member of the crew got a very big group hug she couldn't protest against and a light telling off from Honey Lemon for not sharing in the first place. GoGo shrugged it off and caught sight of Hiro smiling. She smiled back and made him blush. It was kind of cute.

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Sorry 'bout that ending. Wasn't sure where to take it, might improve it if feedback demands or has some idea what would look better and I agree with it... I might have another story up my sleeve if y'all liked this one and where I (hope) you saw me going.

Cheers!


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